"
"Marry a woman of sixty, then," said Tristram.
"'Well' in what sense?"
"In every sense. I shall be hard to please."
"You must remember that, as the French proverb says, the most beautiful
girl in the world can give but what she has."
"Since you ask me," said Newman, "I will say frankly that I want
extremely to marry. It is time, to begin with: before I know it I shall
be forty. And then I'm lonely and helpless and dull. But if I marry now,
so long as I didn't do it in hot haste when I was twenty, I must do it
with my eyes open. I want to do the thing in handsome style. I do not
only want to make no mistakes, but I want to make a great hit. I want to
take my pick. My wife must be a magnificent woman."
"Voila ce qui s'appelle parler!" cried Mrs. Tristram.
"Oh, I have thought an immense deal about it."
"Perhaps you think too much. The best thing is simply to fall in love."
"When I find the woman who pleases me, I shall love her enough. My wife
shall be very comfortable."
"You are superb! There's a chance for the magnificent women."
"You are not fair." Newman rejoined. "You draw a fellow out and put him
off guard, and then you laugh at him."
"I assure you," said Mrs. Tristram, "that I am very serious. To prove
it, I will make you a proposal. Should you like me, as they say here, to
marry you?"
"To hunt up a wife for me?"
"She is already found.
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